Page 61 - History of Christianity II- Textbook

Prior to the 1880s, Korea maintained a closed face to the world, earning the name “Hermit Kingdom” in
some western circles. Catholic missionaries started venturing into the country in the late 16th century
but had little sustained success.

Korea signed its first international treaty in 1876 with Japan, and six years later signed its second with
the United States. This opening to the outside world made Korea an attractive new field for foreign
mission work, especially for the Protestant denominations that had well-established missions in
neighboring China and Japan.

Horace Allen, a medical doctor from Ohio, was the first U.S. Presbyterian missionary to arrive in Korea.
The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. initially assigned Allen and his wife, Frances, to China in 1883. But
as attention turned to Korea, Allen was able to use his medical credentials to secure appointment as a
doctor to the foreigners staffing the new legations in Seoul. At the time, existing treaties did not
sanction mission work in the country. Allen arrived in September 1884 officially as a medical doctor, not
a missionary.

At a banquet in December 1884, the progressive faction attempted to assassinate conservative
members of the government. In the resulting melee, Prince Min Yong Ik, the queen’s nephew, was
wounded. Summoned by the secretary of the U.S. legation, Allen arrived at the prince’s bedside and
advised court physicians not to pour hot pitch into his wounds to stop the bleeding. Allen then
supervised the prince’s treatment and recovery and became his personal physician. Within the year, the
Korean government opened Royal Hospital, with Allen overseeing medical operations.

In four short years, the Presbyterian mission in Korea expanded from one doctor to the organization of a
church, the baptism of Christian converts and the establishment of medical and educational programs.
(https://pres-outlook.org/2017/07/history-presbyterian-mission-korea/)

Karl Barth, 1886-1968 ––Karl Barth was a theologian of Swiss descent who lived from
1886 to 1968. He produced a large body of work over the course of his lifetime, most
notably his 13-volume treatise on Christian theology entitled Church Dogmatics. He is
generally understood to be one of the greatest Protestant theologians of modern times.

Barth argued that God’s saving work in Christ supersedes all other doctrines, even to
the point of rendering them moot. For example, Barth seems to see both salvation and
damnation as focused on the cross. Jesus is the recipient of all God’s wrath and all God’s
favor, and we who are in Christ also receive God’s favor. The logical conclusion of this
understanding is that no one but Christ is ever a recipient of God’s wrath. Barth himself
taught that people should hope for the salvation of all, even those who reject God.
At the same time, Barth believed that universal salvation would limit God’s freedom and that,
ultimately, we cannot be dogmatic on this issue. While much of Barth’s theology is sound, this openness
to universal salvation is a departure from Scripture.

Another important aspect of Karl Barth’s theology is his view on inspiration and illumination. Barth
believed that the Bible becomes the Word of God only when the Holy Spirit illuminates it to the heart.
That is, the Bible is not the Word of God in itself, and it need not be inerrant in all that it says; its job is
to point people to the true Word, Jesus Christ. This teaching, more than any other, has brought stern
disagreement from many evangelicals, including Dr. Francis Schaeffer. Many label Barth a neo-
orthodox theologian.

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